The quality of life of children is dependent on the lifestyle of the parents, since their presence is directly felt in their children's life. Healthy attitudes of parents positively influence every aspect of a child's life, right from physical development to mental health and social wellbeing. Hence, parents should adopt healthy lifestyle which will generally be passed on to their kids. In this article, we will discuss about the importance of parents being healthy.

No birth defects in new-born babies: A baby in a healthy mother's womb enjoys good health. New born babies with perfect health have low risk of birth defects like low weight, seizures, impaired or joined limbs, neurological and heart defects. Staying away from unhealthy habits (such as smoking, alcohol or drug abuse) and by adopting healthy habits such as regular exercise, good eating habits, meditation, etc. avoids any kind of hurdles in the baby's development and delivery.

Good physical and mental health: The overall wellbeing of parents directly influences the children's health. The greater endurance of the physical body and a good mental health of the child are shaped right from the early stages of development. Parents’ healthy habits motivate the child to adopt the same healthy lifestyle; this makes him/her physically and mentally fit.

Less behavioral problems: Children of those parents who stay away from unhealthy habits such as smoking, drug or alcohol abuse are found to have low risk of developing behavioral problems such as autism, phobias, dyslexia, mental retardation, ADHD, depression, etc. There will be a great neurological development in the babies born to healthy parents, thus they are gifted with good understanding, learning, behavioral and decision-making skills.

Good academic performance: Having a healthy body and exposure to healthy living environment makes the kids mentally active and highly intelligent. Parents with right attitudes motivate their children to be good performers. These children will have high levels of IQ, good grasping skills, good analyzing skills, high willingness to learn and high confidence on themselves. All these characteristics and the positive support extended by their parents not only make them successful human beings but also excellent performers in the academics and career.

No genetic risk of unhealthy habits: Unhealthy habits such as drug abuse, smoking, and alcohol abuse are sometimes hereditary. Hence, parents with any of the above said habits are most likely to give birth to children more vulnerable to these harmful habits. Moreover, some drugs when abused by mothers during pregnancy are found to cause genetic disorders in children which lead to many physical and mental abnormalities and sometimes lessen their chances of survival. Therefore, parents by staying away from these kinds of unhealthy practices will lead a happy and healthy life, thus passing the same to their children too.

Healthy and happy family: A family can be happy only when all the members of the family are in perfect health and harmony. Healthy parents impart healthy values and lifestyles in their children. In this kind of families, every member supports other’s wellbeing, thus creating an overall healthy and happy environment.

All the above mentioned points conclude that healthy parents impart healthy habits in children. Conversely, unhealthy habits of parents will be taken as an example and excuse by the children to do the same. Hence, healthy parents are the basis for the formation of a healthy family.